A Christmas Tail
by Chuckles the Cheat
Summary: It's Christmas time in the Artisan home world and everyone is catching the Christmas spirit. At least all but one. This classic story is set after a hero's tale. Enjoy!
1. The Odd One Out

I guess you can say that this is my Christmas present to all of my fans. Have a Merry CHRISTmas. To anyone who says X-mas or happy holidays, then screw you it's Merry Christmas.

Yes, I know it should be _A Christmas Tale _so you don't need to point that out. I'm not retarded, I can read like anyone else. And best of all, my Christmas story is in script format! *gets bonked on the head*. We can do without the violence oh enemies of script format. I know better than to do that.

So instead of playing with your barbie dolls, thomas the trains, and polly pockets you got for Christmas, enjoy this original series based Spyro story.

Chapter One

The Odd One Out

Christmas. Everyone knew what Christmas was and what it always brought. Gifts, dinners, and friendly company would bring anyone who was willing to support all three events of happiness and joy. It was one of the most important days of the year to everyone. Everyone but one.

"_Christmas. Bah. How is it that time of the year again?_"

Every dragon in the Artisan home world were ready to celebrate for the upcoming holiday. With only two days away from the grand finale, sll the elders had to find gifts for all one hundred and fifty toddlers. Of course, as Christmas came so did it's white sparkling cheer. Snow covered the land of the Artisan home world, giving it a beautiful sort of texture.

But a green dragon despised it all. He found it utterly disgusting to watch on how happy and cheerful their lives were.

"_I'm tired of seeing all of this. It's always the same_."

The Artisan world had made it's progress ever since the incident with Gnasty Gnorc. It had flourished into a larger town, mainly for all the toddlers the purple dragon saved. One hundred and fifty dragon toddlers, all looking forward toward the same thing. Fun.

A cliff wall surrounded the whole land, leaving the Artisan domain in a valley of some sort. Many caves were dug out in the cliff walls to serve as homes for the dragons. Tunnels were made in particular places in the rock walls, which led to the newer parts of the Artisan world. These lands were larger and held most of the caves. A lake was also dug out for the toddlers to go swimming if they wanted to in one of the corners of the valley. The cliff wall was also much higher than the old part of the world, letting the dragons build a type of flooring system. Stone bridges and platforms were built halfway up the cliff, letting the dragons dig out even more caverns for homes. On the other side of the valley the dragons managed to put together another waterfall, much bigger than the old one. It emptied into a small pond with a drainage hole at the bottom, which helped keep the pond from overflowing. There was also another hedge maze toward the right of the waterfall. It was much bigger than the other and much more challenging.

Some of the toddlers were playing in the new hedge maze while others may have been playing tag. Swimming was out of the question for the lake was frozen over by the snow. Instead of swimming, the toddlers enjoyed and little ice skating.

But on the cliff above the hedge maze, stood a particular green dragon who hated the sight. He dispised Christmas for it only brought joy, something he never grew up with.

"_Look at these fools._"

This dragon had his reasons for disliking the holiday. His two fine horns pointed back and his tail looked like a tiny green mace. His lime green eyes scanned the area, spotting nothing of that could have increase his interest. But this dragon held a feature others did not. Instead of scales, this dragon had medium sized fur which covered his whole body. The only thing that wasn't green was his horns, which were more of a light gray. He was a little smaller than a dragon elder as well.

A series of buzzing came from behind the unpleasant dragon, making him look back in response. "Yes Ruby. I know that."

Ruby was the fur dragon's companion. His female dragonfly companion to be more exact. The dragonfly also held on to a one of a kind feature that others did not. Know matter how many butterflies she ate, she always held her ruby color. Which was why her name was Ruby. She always stuck with the dragon ever since the beginning, no matter what he did.

What the dragonfly was referring to, was a tall Christmas tree being set up in the middle of the plains. The adult dragons were working hard but the tree was slowly beginning to come together. It had its decorations that the toddlers merrily helped with, along with a five pointed star hooked right at the top of the tree.

The fur dragon became angered. He really didn't find this as exciting as they did. The dragon thought if there was something he could do, then a small atrocious grin appeared on his face.

The dragonfly seemed to notice but she seemed more worried than anything else, making her buzz some words at her companion.

"What am I thinking?" the fur dragon schemed. He laughed in his throat as his plan came into play.

The dragon took off running and leaped off the cliff wall with Ruby following him closely behind. The furry reptile opened his wings letting him glide over the hedge maze as he closed in on his target. The tree. The adult dragons finally got the tree standing and were smiling at their success. But the furry one was about to make any happy face disappear without a trace.

"Who's that?" one of the adult dragons muttered. Anyone who heard his voice, turned to see what the problem was.

"Who is who?" A green scaled adult asked. He turned to see his friend looking up into the sky while pointing, making him look as well. He saw someone gliding through the air toward them with an unfamiliar face.

"Can't be a toddler," one of them said. "He's too big to be one."

"Can't be an adult either," another one indicated. "Looks too small."

They only watched as the unknown visitor dived in toward them. It looked like a small red light was following him. One of the elder dragons squinted at the red light, trying to find out what it could be. But it was just too small to see from a distance. Everyone only watched as their unexpected guest hovered straight over their tree.

"He can fly?" An adult rhetorically asked in surprise.

The fur dragon grinned then spoke out toward the dragons below, "Let me be the first to show my holiday spirit."

The reptile inhaled, letting the dragonfly Ruby immediately come to her senses on what her comrade's intentions were. The dragonfly flew out in front of the dragon to try and stop him, but it was far too late to save the tree. The dragon exhaled, not even taking notice of his dragonfly in front of him, as his flames engulfed her as well as the Christmas tree. Every living being in the area, even the little ones, turned their heads toward the ruckus to see the top of the new tree burning with a blistering fire. Gasps could be heard from everyone who watched, which was music to the fur dragons ears.

The fur dragon let out an evil chuckle as he flew back toward the cliff, satisfied with the results from his hateful little prank. "Now I really did enjoy that, I hope they can deal with this little rat." A few more moments passed and the dragon landed back in his spot he was before. "And by rat, I mean me." The dragon waited to hear a response, but never heard one. He looked around, thinking Ruby was playing tricks on him. "Hey Ruby, where did you go? Can you really be that slow?"

The fur dragon turned to look at the burning tree, wondering on what happened to his dragonfly partner. He just hoped that she could be found.

Meanwhile, with the tree still burning, a purple dragon was still found sleeping in one of the bottom floor caverns.

"Spyro! Wake up!" The purple dragon shot up out of bed at the sudden shout.

The dragon lived alone in his own little cave made just for him for his heroic deeds in defeating the dragon elder Red. It contained the usual stuff you could find in anyone's cave. His bed was sort of large for his size, which had a bookcase filled with various books at the foot of it. A small circular red velvet carpet decorated the flooring enough to cover most of the important parts of the cave flooring. A couple of chairs were placed on the other side of the carpet for relaxing for any visitors Spyro happened to get. A shelf was located above Spyro's bed, which only held onto a dragonfly sized bed, which was currently being used by a golden dragonfly, who was awake now.

"What?" Spyro asked in a rude sort of manner. He rubbed his eyes as they came into focus.

The purple dragon spotted his red dragon friend Flame, Spyro attempted to smile but was still trying to wake up from his sleep.

"The Christmas tree is on fire!" Flame reported with all his might.

"Very funny," Spyro replied, not sounding amused.

"I'm serious!" Flame cried out loud. The purple dragon could hear his echo was well as a low buzzing in his ear. The red dragon looked up to see Sparx, wide-awake and looking surprised at the news.

"Your not fooling me," Spyro lazily said, throwing the covers back over his head.

Sparx buzzed a few choice words, making the purple dragon get up with a groan. He breathed a sigh as he looked out the cave to see a small blanket of snow out in the plain. He also saw a few adult dragons who seemed to be rushing, maybe there really was something going on out there?

"Alright," Spyro finally conceded. "I'll see what's going on."

Flame was the first one out of the cave then waited for Sparx and Spyro to emerge. When they finally did, Spyro found that his friend was right. The tree was burning and the adult dragons were doing their best in trying to save it. But the purple dragon already knew it was no use. The flames had spread too much too quickly. If there was hope to save the tree, he would have used his water breath.

"There isn't any way they can save it," Spyro indicated. "That tree is a goner."

Spyro still made his way toward the scene, thinking there was still some way he could help.

When he arrived at the burning tree, it seemed as if everyone had just given up. Everyone helplessly watched as the tree they worked so hard on was lost. The ornaments, the decorations, all gone.

"What happened?" Spyro asked a nearby adult, who watched the same terrible scene.

The dragon shook his head, "I'm not sure really. Some weird dragon showed up and set the tree on fire for no reason, then flew off toward the cliffs."

"Oh, well just out of curiosity, what did he look like?" Spyro inquired, still watching the tree burn.

"He was green and he had fur all over him."

Spyro looked at the dragon like it was some sort of joke, "Fur? Funny."

"No jokes," the dragon deeply replied. "You heard the truth, ask someone else if you don't believe me."

It didn't take long for the tree to burn all the way down to nothing but hot ashes. The snow seemed to help by dousing the hot remains, did this mysterious fur dragon hate them for some reason? However Spyro spotted something that seemed to shimmer in the snow, so he made his way over to it.

The shimmering spot seemed to be fairly close to the remains of the tree. He couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with the fur dragon he was told about. When he arrived at the spot, he peered downwards and moved some of the snow to the side. To his amazement, it was a red dragonfly. Spyro examined it for a moment, wondering how the dragonfly managed to get somewhat buried in snow. It also turned out that the dragonfly was out cold making Spyro take pity upon the inscrutable creature.


	2. Humiliation

Chapter Two

Humiliation

Ruby creaked her eyes open to find herself in an unfamiliar spot. She carefully looked around the room with her eyes, not even daring to show a sign of life within her. The room she was in was actually a cave. A small cave. She also seemed to be sleeping on some small bed her own size. Was it made just for her?

She finally forced herself to sit up to hear some voices just outside the cave. Then two things went through her head.

"_Maybe I should hide?_" She thought with a frown. "_Or play dead._"

Her final choice was to listen in on that little conversation just outside of the cave. Two dragons, one red and one purple, were speaking to each other about her. Even another dragonfly was with them but never made himself known.

"So what are you going to do with him?" Flame asked with sympathy, still a little mad about the incident from earlier.

"I'm not sure," Spyro replied. "He looked hurt though because he was red."

Sparx finally joined in with some comments of his own. A series of buzzes came from the golden dragonfly which made Flame look at Spyro with nothing but wonder. When Sparx finally finished he turned to Flame and translated on what Sparx had just told him.

"He said that he doesn't like the idea of some random dragonfly sleeping on his bed," Spyro interpreted. He added on, "But as soon as Sparx can get a look at the dragonfly then maybe we can get him to tell us on what happened."

Ruby huffed as the dragons called her a male dragonfly. But she thought she heard another dragonfly's buzzing so she made her way toward the cave's exit. The red dragonfly stopped and peeked around the corner to listen in on the trio to find out what they were going to do with her. She couldn't remember much of how she ended up in the position she was in. The last thing she remembered was trying to stop her partner from burning down a Christmas tree. She didn't even know if she succeeded.

"So when is he going to wake up?" Flame asked as he looked at the remains of the incident.

Again with the he. Ruby wondered if they could even tell the difference between a male and female dragonfly. She was about to show herself to tell those dragons that he was actually a she but she stopped thought before she acted.

"Could be anytime. I hope that he's friendly when he wakes up."

As soon as Spyro finished his sentence Ruby found herself tired of being called a he. So she bravely made her way outside the cave and toward the dragons in a fussy sort of mood.

"Whoa Spyro you sure told me," Flame said in a sarcastic tone.

The red dragonfly began buzzing some loud and choice words making Sparx having to listen in on what she had to say. He knew Spyro wouldn't be able to catch all of it. As soon as she finished Sparx turned to Spyro to tell him the news on what she said, leaving out a few details here and there.

"Oh," Spyro simply said with a mild chuckle. "So he is actually a she?"

Sparx confirmed it with a simple nod and said another sentence.

"And her name is Ruby?" Spyro continued in question, making sure he had it right. Sparx nodded turned to Ruby, who seemed to be lost in some sort of daze.

But Ruby was actually adoring Sparx to no end. There was something about the golden dragonfly which made him seem somehow cute. Maybe it was just because she hadn't seen another dragonfly for a good while now.

"Can you tell us what happened earlier?" Flame asked.

Ruby sighed as if she went through this a hundred time before. But she obeyed and slowly told the dragons that could understand her on how she ended up in the predicament she was in. Slowly but surely her story was told so Spyro repeated it all to Flame with the best of his might.

"She was with that green fur dragon that burned down our Christmas tree. She tried to stop him from burning it down but it seemed that he didn't notice that she was in front of him when he blew fire. So she was knocked out by the flames."

"Who was the dragon though?" Flame inquired, hoping that he could get some answers about this mysterious figure.

"She said his name was Mirelth."

"Never heard of him," Flame replied.

"Maybe one of the dragon elders can tell us about him?" Spyro suggested.

Flame grinned in agreement, "Yeah, let's ask Nestor!"

Spyro smiled as well, but he was smiling at something else. Ruby was looking like she was taking a liking toward Sparx for she was slowly making her way toward the golden dragonfly's side. It didn't take but a few more seconds for Ruby to be right beside Sparx.

"Sparx, can you keep an eye on Ruby?"

Sparx was about to object but Flame cut him off, "We'll only be gone for a second, come on Spyro."

And like that, Spyro followed Flame to find the tall green dragon Nestor, leaving Sparx by himself with his female friend.

_A few minutes later_

Nestor's cave was quite large but extra roomy. He had a small fire going in an empty corner of the cave for warmth with a couple of places to sit on a gray mat in front of it. There was one bookcase at one side of the cave and Nestor's large bed at the other. A large treasure chest was locked down tight in the other corner of the cave, Spyro guessed this was where he kept his gems.

"So have you ever heard of Mirelth?" Flame asked, finally breaking the ice on why the two small dragons were there.

Nestor was quiet for a good while. The fire crackled as Spyro looked at it wondering if he didn't even hear his friend. He was getting a little old after all.

"Mirelth," Nestor said. "I haven't heard that name in years."

"So you've heard of him?" Spyro asked,

Nestor watched the dancing fire a moment before answering, "Yes. But it was a long time ago and I thought he was gone forever. I never thought that he would come back."

"Come back?" Spyro questionably repeated.

"I guess it's time I've told someone about him. Even if one of them can be cocky."

"You talking about me?" Spyro smirked. "Because I have no idea what you are talking about."

Nestor gave a faceless expression as he began the story, "This dragon you saw is much older than you think. He is around my age. When Mirelth was born, he had a . . . characteristic that other dragons didn't have. Instead of scales, he was born with fur. No one knows how it happened. It saddens me to say that, because of his fur, he was made fun of, picked on, and pushed around." Nestor shook his head and continued, "His nickname was the dragon mop."

Spyro was about to crack up but managed to hold it in, "So how did he end up leaving?"

Nestor continued with slight hesitation, "The last we saw if Mirelth was during a flying test in the Sunny Flight portal. Everyone was doing fine and were passing the test, but Mirelth somehow ended up crashing into the water. Everyone laughed at him, but what made Mirelth the maddest was when they brought his nickname up saying that he really suited a mop."

_Thirty Years Ago?_

_Sunny Flight Training_

Mirelth flew just inches above the cold waters below, praying that he could finish the course in at least a descent time. He already flew through the smoke rings, the crystal arches, and just finished flaming the last barrel on the back of the train the circled around the small mountainous island of Sunny Flight. The last few things he needed to flame were the golden chests in the small cavern up ahead. Mirelth thought he could do this without any noticeable errors so he was pretty confident in his abilities.

As the green fur dragon approached the cavern, he spotted the first chest sitting on a ledge overlooking the river in the cavern. Mirelth flamed it and making it burn into shattered bits which were doused into the water below. Another chest was spotted on the right side of the walls, making Mirelth switch sides to get to it. When he was close enough, he let out his fire. Two down six to go.

Two more chests were spotted on the left and the right sides of the tunnel, so Mirelth took out the one on the left for he was more closer to it. As soon as he heard the chest fall into pieces, he switched sides just in time to catch the other one. There were only four more to go.

The tunnel Mirelth flew down opened up into a large, dome type cavern with an open ceiling for the sunlight, which never seemed to cease, giving the dragon plenty of light. Nearly every dragon was watching him from the open rooftop to watch the challenger finish the final remains of the course. A thin tall rock jutted out of the water in the middle of the cavern, making the fur dragon take note of it's existence. Around the cavern were the four remaining chest, evenly spaced out on their ledges on the rock walls. This was it. The last bit was right here, waiting for the newcomer to conquer it.

Mirelth leaned toward the right and flamed the first chest he saw. He circled around and spotted another chest, in which he took out with ease. The dragon continued on until he spotted the second to last chest, which he flamed just in the nick of time. Then as he continued on, he eyed the last chest just waiting for him. With a smile, he sped forward in confidence with victory right there in his grasp. With one last flame, he let it all out. The remaining chest was destroyed and the dragon could have screamed in his triumph.

He finished the course under the time limit making him more than overjoyed. He done something right. Finally! After all these years he had done something right!

But the embarrassment was only waiting to strike him where it hurt the most. The heart.

As Mirelth turned to exit the cave, he forgot about one thing. The stalagmite in the middle of the cavern. It was so sudden that the fur dragon didn't know what hit him as he collided against the rock. The next thing he knew, he was under the water with his breath knocked out of him. The dragon had failed and thought about just staying underwater until he passed out. But thoughts that the elders would look over that last bit went through his mind, urging him to emerge from his shivery bathe. But as soon as he surfaced, he was greeted with something else entirely.

All the dragons above him, mostly all his age, were laughing at him. Mirelth just floated there, wishing this wasn't all true. He finished the course, why were they laughing? It was like they didn't even care about his success.

Regardless of his mistakes, he still managed to fly up through the hole in the cave ceiling and landed in the best opening he could see.

Dripping wet, he still asked the tallest dragon, "So did I pass?"

But his question remained to be answered as all his classmates were laughing hysterically at his state. He looked down at his fur to see it all drooping down toward the rocky ground, dripping with the salty water.

"He looks like a giant green mop!" a dragon yelled out.

"Ha! He does!" another one replied.

"The elders could use him to clean up their floors!" someone laughed.

"Hey giant green mop! Can you walk through my cave? The flooring is kind of dirty!"

Everyone laughed at him, even the elders found it quite amusing. You could almost see the rage boiling up inside of him. He was about to scream into a rage but a low buzzing noise in his ear kept him from walking up to the nearest dragon and rip him to shreds. Mirelth looked over his shoulder to see a red colored dragonfly by the name of Ruby. But Ruby was looking at something else near a green dragon's shoulder in front of them. There was a golden dragonfly which didn't seem to agree with the other dragons. He was only shaking his head in disagreement before flying off, away from the crowd of dragons. Ruby wondered for a second on who that dragonfly was for this was the first time she saw him.

The testing continued for the remainder of the dragons. Mirelth never found out if he passed that test or not for the elders only told him to wait for the results like everyone else. But no one seemed to notice the fur dragon, breathing heavily in his wrath. The only one that stuck by him through thick and thin was his partner Ruby. But the dragonfly was concerned for both her partner, and the dragons that made fun of him. There was no telling what kind of plans were going through Mirelth's head. Plans of revenge, plans of humiliation. So Ruby suggested one idea that Mirelth seemed to like at the time. The plan was to run away.

Without another word, Mirelth disappeared that day. The elders grew worried about him as the days passed and even bothered to send search parties after him. But Mirelth was long gone and nowhere to be found, so eventually the search parties were called off. The elders assumed that the fur dragon was gone forever. But they assumed wrong.


	3. A Dragonfly's Secret

Chapter Three

A Dragonfly's Secret

"So who was the low life that gave him that nickname in the first place?" Spyro asked, still sitting in the snow while listening to Nestor's story.

Nestor flinched at first, shook his second, then continued on, "It doesn't matter alright? All that matters is that Mirelth is still alive and he clearly wants revenge for what was done to him."

"By ruining my Christmas?" Flame asked dubiously. "That's not fair! We have to stop him before Christmas comes!"

Spyro nodded, "He's right. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and if Christmas comes he's going to attack again."

"I know," Nestor dully answered. "I . . . have a confession to make."

Spyro simply smirked to his delight, "Let me hear it."

"You know Mirelth's nickname, the dragon mop?" Nestor continued. Spyro and Flame nodded. "It was my idea to give him that nickname."

"Wait," Flame nearly busted. "Your the one that made that name up?"

"I didn't know that it would spread around like that," Nestor went on in a more livelier but tender voice. "One thing led to another and before I knew it everyone was calling him the dragon mop."

"Wow, good job," Spyro sarcastically encouraged. "Now we got a crazy half dragon trying to destroy our Christmas just for the fun of it."

"Don't remind me," Nestor faintly replied.

_Meanwhile_

"_Oh so that's what happened_," Sparx said in understanding.

Ruby had been telling the dragonfly on Mirelth's past as well. She told him about the Sunny Flight incident, which was the breaking point for fur dragon's rage. Of course, any dragons that were passing by their cave had no idea of what they were talking about. Some even wondered where the new dragonfly came from while others just ignored her.

"_U-huh_," Ruby nodded. "_I managed to talk him into running away. But I didn't know that he would take it so seriously._" Ruby squinted at the golden dragonfly, acting like he seemed somehow familiar. "_Say, haven't I seen you somewhere before?_"

"_Me?_" Sparx nearly laughed, "_I don't know what your talking about._"

"_How old are you?_" Ruby thoughtfully asked with a smile. "_No lies._"

Sparx frowned and looked the other way, "_What does this have to do with anything?_"

"_Because I remember seeing a golden dragonfly back when me and Mirelth was in Sunny Flight. I'm curious . . . Sparx._"

A few moments passed until Sparx lowly answered, "_I've been with Spyro ever since the beginning._"

Ruby sighed, "_That doesn't answer my question._"

Sparx continued, "_It's a dragonfly's job to keep a dragon safe until he comes to a certain age. It's . . . frightening to think about. Once you become attached to someone, your ripped away to be another dragon's guardian._"

"_Sparx . . . I've been with Mirelth for more than thirty years. You don't have to be torn away from your partner like that. With me and Mirelth, it's always been us against everyone. No one is going to separate us, even if he does do some foolish things._"

Sparx looked back over at Ruby and slowly showed a small smile, appreciating the concern.

The golden dragonfly was about to say something, but the purple dragon seemed to just pop up out of nowhere from behind him along with Flame. It startled him a bit but he knew he sensed a presence. It wasn't easy to sneak up on him like that.

"We're back Sparx, and we know who that green dragon is now," Spyro informed as the dragonfly took noticed him.

Sparx began buzzing a couple of words of his own leaving Flame out in the dark. It didn't take but just a minute for Sparx to finish his speech, letting Spyro translate, "He said that while we were gone, Ruby told him about Mirelth too. Seems as if Ruby has been Mirelth's partner for thirty years now. They basically ran away and they have been fending for themselves the whole time."

"That's pretty amazing," Flame replied in slight amusement.

"I'll say," Spyro agreed. "So what do you think the elder's are going to do about Mirelth?"

Flame shrugged, "Hey I don't know. Maybe Ember will have an idea."

Spyro nearly chuckled a second there, "Ember? Your serious?"

"Jealous?" Flame grinned.

"Yeah right," Spyro replied. He looked over at the golden dragonfly to see him smiling. The purple dragon knew what he was thinking but found himself smiling as well.

Flame ended up leaving at that and went looking for the pink dragoness by the name of Ember. Spyro remembered he well. He remembered her most from when he left to go into the swamp to find an elder and learn a new move. She heard about him leaving then overreacted big time by doing everything she could to keep him from walking into the face of danger. She was telling the truth at one point. He did like her, but not enough to actually propose a date of any kind.

Spyro on the other hand stayed in his cave for a little while to escape the cold winter air with Sparx and Ruby. The red dragonfly was seeming to become fond of Sparx, as if she had seen him from somewhere. They always talked but Spyro always gave them their space. He figured they needed it.

_Meanwhile_

In the distance from the homes of the Artisan dragons was a cave. In this cave was a particular green fur dragon that was smiling while he made his plans in his head. The dragon was sitting as his homemade table in his large dark cavern that sometimes had a tendency to leak. The ceiling was fairly high which echoed if someone gave a shout. There were a couple of holes in the roof here and there which was where the light he needed came from.

"If Ruby isn't here to help me out then I'll just do nothing but pout."

The fur dragon laid his head down on the table in thought. How could he get his revenge without the help of his partner?

"I swear if those Artisan's took her then I'll leave my planning for later."

The fur dragon went through all the ideas that came through his head, trying to find some explanation on the disappearance of his partner. The more he thought, the more worried he became.

"Maybe she's just out catching a butterfly? Or maybe that's just one big fat lie."

Then the dragons face went to one of disgust when he realized on what he had been doing. "Why am I speaking in rhymes all the sudden?"

Mirelth paced around the small table he was at, puzzling on what could have happened to Ruby. Minutes passed until the dragon finally decided to wait for her for a little bit longer.

"If she isn't back by the time the moon begins to show, then all the way to Artisan I will go."

So the dragon began his wait as the time flew on by. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, there would be plenty of time for planning then.

_Later_

_7 P.M._

"So I guess she is staying at your cave?" A pink dragoness asked after hearing the news of Ruby.

Spyro nodded as he looked behind him toward his home. "That's right. I really don't know what she is up to but I think she likes Sparx."

Flame added in with a jiggered tone, "So she's staying here because of Sparx?"

"Well you have to think," the purple dragon said. "It's been thirty years since Ruby has seen another dragonfly like her."

"For once you making sense," Flame replied in a more steady voice.

All three of them were fairly satisfied with what was going on. Disappointed that the tree from earlier is gone but things could have gone to a whole new level if Mirelth stuck around, but overall they were satisfied.

A chill blew through the air making the dragons shiver at it's greeting. The pink dragoness known as Ember to speak, "It's getting a little cool out here."

"Well we have been standing in the snow for about an hour now," Flame chuckled. "It's probably best if we head on back to our homes before the elders make us."

"They can be annoyingly strict at some points," Spyro added in. "Sometimes I just wanna pick them up like a dragon egg and throw them into the pond."

Ember giggled for a moment before saying with a grin, "Don't we all?"

It didn't take long for the dragons to head their separate ways. Ember and Flame seemed to stick together for a while before they actually split up, which somehow amused the purple reptile. Before Spyro headed on in his cave, he took the time to look up into the skies. It was dark and plenty of stars were visible along with their various constellations. But Spyro didn't know the constellations all that well, he just enjoyed watching them twinkle. Or he tried to. The dragon found it quite rare for him to actual sit back and enjoy the sight. He figured it had something to do with his personality. But he didn't want to go inside quite yet. He knew Ruby and Sparx were talking so he figured he would give his buddy some space for the time being. So instead of going inside, he decided to go take a walk.

_Meanwhile_

Inside Spyro's cave, Ruby was quietly listening to Sparx's story about the Sorceress him and Spyro defeated. They were both sitting on top of Sparx's small bed, side by side with smiles on their faces, obviously content with each other.

"_Wow_," Ruby went in amazement. "_That was quite some story._"

Sparx grinned in response, "_When the egg hatched, it turned out there were actually twin dragons inside, which was how it made the Sorceress so powerful._"

"_That makes sense, there's no way she could have survived after falling in the lava. Twice even._"

"_Oh yeah, we never saw her again since then. It was quite an adventure and very satisfying to know that there is one less evil in this world of ours._"

Ruby smiled for a moment, before it slowly turned into a frown, "_I hope Mirelth is okay right now. I've never been so far away from him before._"

Sparx looked concerned as he saw her in a depressed looking state. He thought of something that could cheer her up and he thought of it quick. "_I'm sure he's alright and getting along just fine._" But she still looked a bit afraid for her partner. The golden dragonfly slightly rocked in a back and forth motion, thinking of what to do for her. He hated seeing anyone in this sort of state and it was bothering him. So he thought up of something else and gave it a try, "_Do you want to go look around Artisan with me?_"

A second passed until Ruby turned to face her new found friend, "_You mean . . . you want to spend some more time with me?_"

Sparx nodded, seeing that his plan was beginning to work. "_Yeah. Things must have changed since you were last here right?_"

Ruby finally showed a smile, something Sparx wanted to see.


	4. The Old Parts

Chapter Four

The Old Parts

"Jeez he didn't have to fuss at me," Spyro grumbled as he entered his cave. Evidently the elder's didn't find Spyro's late walk very smart, so they told him to go back into his cave. They were mainly worried about Mirelth but Spyro didn't even think about it.

"Sparx?" Spyro quietly called out. There was barely any echo.

The purple reptile looked around the cave but couldn't spot neither of the dragonflies. Spyro turned around to take a quick peek outside of his cave to see if he could spot his glowing little friend. He couldn't have been that hard to miss, especially since it was night. But he didn't see anything that could have resembled the dragonfly.

"Naw, he's alright," Spyro said to himself. "They're probably just having a date." Then he found himself chuckling at the matter.

He turned toward his bed, then walked over to it. He took a second but forced himself to sit down on it. As soon as he was still, he found his cave to be a bit chilly.

"Knew I was forgetting something."

Spyro stood back to his fours and walked over to the firewood in the corner of his cave. He placed just enough wood to start a small fire, then made sure that all flammable materials were clear of it's radius. Satisfied, he blew a short fire through his nostrils to start the comfortable heater.

"That's better."

Spyro turned back around and made the few steps back to his bed, then had to force himself to sit down again. Even if he couldn't say it to himself, he was wondering on what Sparx was up to.

_Meanwhile_

None of the sights seemed familiar to Ruby in any way. The hedge maze was the closest thing she remembered from thirty years ago, but the hedge maze was new and improved from the old one. So Sparx finally decided to take her down memory lane.

The two dragonflies made their way through the rock tunnel to arrive at the old parts of the Artisan home world. There were still some inhabitants, but there were no toddlers whatsoever in these parts. Then that was when Ruby's memory kicked in.

She remembered the short and small hedge maze from before, but she was actually seeing it now. The two dragonflies hovered in front of the entrance before they entered. Sparx didn't even know if this hedge maze could even be classified as a maze but he just went with it. The archway portal that Sparx remembered still stood at the end of the maze, it just wasn't working. It used to go to a land called Dark Hollow.

Ruby looked at Sparx with a smile of appreciation as they headed back towards the exit of the hedge maze. The red colored dragonfly was happy to see the small waterfall still working as it should in the distance. Sparx knew what she was looking at so he took her on over to it. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the waterfall. The falling water emptied into a small pond with five large stepping stones all evenly spaced out from each other. Sparx remembered on how Spyro stepped jumped on each stone consecutively to unlock a hidden portal behind the waterfall. The portal which led to Sunny Flight.

"_Does the portal still work?_" Ruby asked, referring to the hidden portal behind the waterfall.

Sparx nodded, "_As far as I know. The elders just has it turned off to keep the little dragons out._"

Ruby hovered in her spot, as still and quiet as she could as she watched the moonlight sparkle off the water. For thirty years she spent in murky old caves, forests, mountains, and rarely being able to visit the Artisan lands. She soaked in as much beauty from this kingdom as she could, knowing that soon she would be back in the caves where she belonged.

"_I don't want to go back,_" Ruby said in a down voice. "_I miss this place too much to leave so suddenly._"

Sparx himself looked unhappy at how desperate she looked. He couldn't picture what it would have been like to spend all those years, only to look forward to another day of staying in the darkness of a cave. It must have been awful.

"_Then don't,_" Sparx suggested. "_Stay here with me and Spyro._"

A few moments passed as Sparx studied the dragonfly. It looked like she was considering it for a moment but she ended up shaking her head, "_I can't. Mirelth needs me._"

"_But has he considered on what you want?_" Sparx desperately asked.

"_He won't even consider it,_" she replied.

Sparx made a deep sigh of slight aggravation. "_Well . . . I don't know. How about we head on back? Spyro is most likely wondering where we are._"

Ruby watched the waterfall for another minute, still in thought of how she could persuade Mirelth to forget about what happened to him in the past. But she couldn't think of anything worth mentioning.

"_Alright,_" she finally said. "_Let's go._"

_Meanwhile_

Mirelth scanned the area from atop the cliff wall, hoping to see a sign of his dragonfly partner. He sat on the edge of the cliff where all the dragon's caves were, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. The only thing he saw was snow, the frozen lake to his right and the frosty looking hedge maze toward the top left corner along with a couple of closed stalls in front of it. He mainly kept his eyes on the platforms below.

"I better not have come all this way for naught," Mirelth whispered to himself. "I really do not feel like getting caught." He shook his head at what he said, "Again with the rhymes, what is wrong with me."

A few minutes passed and the fur dragon saw that it was beginning to snow a little. He couldn't really tell how cold it was due to his fur. That was the bright side to having fur but Mirelth still didn't appreciate the way he was born.

When he was about to give up, he finally saw a speck of red below him. He saw the glowing red dot disappear inside one of the caverns below him before he saw it no more.

"Hold on Ruby there's nothing else to see, I'll save you from this place and away we will be."

Soon afterwards the fur dragon hit himself in the head for saying such a thing. It was like he was purposely coming up with the rhymes now. But before he began his descent, he took one last look around the plains for any activity. Everyone seemed to be in their warm caves away from the weather, giving the dragon the perfect chance to go after his partner. But he was about to act too soon as two large elders made their way out onto the platforms below.

One of them was red with a gray underbelly. He looked a little chubby but muscular at the same time. The other was gray, tall, and pretty slender. His underbelly looked almost like a tainted green but Mirelth couldn't tell for sure. Soon, they began talking to each other about the very subject Mirelth hated. Christmas.

"So have you gotten the gifts you need?" the gray elder asked. He didn't sound all that old.

"Mostly," the red dragon replied. His voice sounded a bit deep but courteous at the same time. "I still have to pick up a few more when the toddlers aren't around."

"We still have to whip up another Christmas tree for the toddlers. I can't believe someone would burn it down on purpose."

The red dragon shrugged in response, "I can't either. Do you have an idea of who it was?"

The gray elder nodded, "Somehow he seemed familiar. I can't place him but my memory isn't what it used to be."

They continued talking about Christmas gifts and what they were going to do about the new Christmas tree, which was making Mirelth fall asleep in the snow. It seemed like they stayed out there for hours doing nothing but talking.

"_Can't these fools take a hint and leave?_" Mirelth thought, dozing off in the process.

_Later_

The elders finally finished their chat and went their separate ways. But that was over two hours ago. Mirelth fell asleep while listening in on their conversation and was just now waking up to find himself with plenty of fallen snow on his back. Mirelth shivered, rubbed his eyes, then shook himself free of the snow.

"_How long was I asleep?_"

Mirelth guessed it must have been for a while, considering the snow that was on his back. The white, slow falling, precipitation had gotten a tad worse last time he remembered it. A thin layer of fog covered the plains and it felt a little colder than before.

The fur dragon shook his head until he was wide-awake, then remembered the reason of why he was here. He looked down on the platforms below, hoping there wasn't a soul to see. Glad to see there wasn't and the coast was clear, he jumped down onto the closest platform below and landed with a thud. He peered into the cave he nearly landed in front of to see a large dragon sleeping on a bed inside of it with a dieing fire in the back corner.

Glad to see the dragon was still asleep, Mirelth jumped down another level. He landed in the snow, which covered his paws in an attempt to make him shiver. He made his way down a few caves to where he remembered seeing Ruby, hoping that she was still here. The dragon took a few breaths before peering inside of the faint lit cavern. A small fire still let out enough light for him to see everything there was. A purple dragon seemed to inhabit this small cave, but he wasn't looking at anything else other than Ruby. His dragonfly partner was sleeping in a small bed on top of a shelf above the purple dragon's bed. So Mirelth sucked in his gut and sneaked inside, careful not to run into anything.

Mirelth smiled as he approached the sleeping dragonfly, ready to break her out of her prison. But he saw something that he didn't expect to see. She didn't look sad. She actually looked kind of happy. The fur dragon sat frozen in his spot, unsure of what to do. The last time he remembered seeing that face on the dragonfly was too long ago. Then he spotted something else that made him think more than twice. There was a golden dragonfly, also in a bed similar to Ruby's a little more ways up on the shelf. Mirelth carefully leaned over to get a closer look at him.

"_You? Your still here?_" He sat in his spot, studying the dragonfly for a few seconds. "_I can't believe he's still here after all these years._" And just like that, he turned around and left without another thought.

The fur dragon stood outside of the cave as he remembered that golden dragonfly. No wonder Ruby looked so happy.

"_I've been trying to make her happy for years but you manage to do it within one night?_"

Mirelth took one last look into the cave before showing a smile. "_Maybe he was right. I shouldn't have ran away like that. It was foolish of me. I shouldn't have been so selfish._"

The green dragon thought if he was actually wrong about getting revenge for what they did to him in the past. He considered it, but he remembered on how everyone laughed at him and called him the dragon mop that day. He remembered on how much they made fun of him because of how he was different from the others. It didn't take long for him to find himself in anger, voiding his thoughts from earlier.

"_I'll be back to ruin this holiday. Starting with the gifts._"

Mirelth flapped his wings until he was airborne then began his dark flight toward the cliff in the distance.


	5. The Plan

Dovish- synonym for peaceful.

Incredulity- unbelievable, incredible, astounding

Your welcome

Chapter Five

The Plan

Spyro was the first to wake up in his cave to greet a new Christmas Eve morning. He yawned as he rubbed his waking eyes, then slowly forced himself to sit up with a silent groan. The first thing he noticed was the sunlight gleaming into his cavern. His squinted his eyes until they adjusted, then was finally able to see into the snowy outdoors.

It seemed like the elders must have gotten up a little earlier that normal. Spyro could see a new Christmas tree laying down on the snow, letting the toddlers decorate it with whatever ornaments were left. It wasn't as much, but the tree still seemed to sparkle regardless of that.

The purple dragon sluggishly stood to his feet then eyed the dragonflies, sleeping on their beds with dovish looks, which made him smile in spirit. Sparx was usually the first one up out of bed so the purple reptile figured that they must have been out late last night. He was proud of his golden partner. Ruby hadn't ran away yet which must have meant something good. If Sparx was happy, so was Spyro.

The dragon decided to head on outside to say hello to a chilly breeze. He shivered to it's greeting as he walked over toward their new tree only to watch the toddlers place the last few ornaments on it's limbs.

"Hey Spyro!" A green scaled toddler waved with a grin.

Spyro smiled and replied, "Good morning Chad."

It only took a few minutes for all the participating toddlers to finish up with the ornaments. As soon as they finished, they happily told the nearest elder about their accomplishment. The gray elder smiled and told the other elders that they were finished with the tree. The two other elders nodded in approval and praised all the involved youngsters on a job well done. Now it was the elder's turn to set the tree up.

The tree was actually a bit shorter than the other one but it still looked just as grand. Spyro just sat back and watched two of the three elders set the tree up onto a wooden pedestal which helped keep it standing. Spyro showed a smile, glad to see the toddlers work was finally complete. He just hoped that this one would stay. He didn't want to see those faces the toddlers made when Mirelth cruelly burned the other one to the ground. Spyro made a promise to himself that if Mirelth ever tried another stunt like that again that the purple dragon would show off his own flames up close and personal.

_Later_

Ruby and Sparx woke up an hour later to some Christmas carols that were being sung outside. Sparx wasn't much for singing so he stayed in his bed for a little while longer, too lazy to get up. But Ruby listened to the carols the best she could, grinning as she did. She hadn't heard those hymns in what seemed like ages. But it seemed as if she caught the tail-end of their performance for it appeared to have stopped after a few minutes.

"Rise and shine!" A purple dragon announced as he entered the cavern. "Come on, Christmas is going to be here before you two even think about getting up!"

Then in as quick as a flash, the dragon disappeared back into the snowy outdoors. Sparx sighed as he began flapping his wings to find that Ruby was already up and hovering about. She was looking out the cave at the toddlers who were playing in any way they could. Tag, snowball fights, even a game of capture the flag. The elders kept a close eye on the toddlers playing that one, they could get rough at some points.

"_Does Spyro always get you up in that sort of way?_" Ruby asked without looked at the approaching dragonfly.

Sparx stopped in his flight and peered out of the cave as well. Dragonflies were a little more vulnerable to the cold than dragons. So if it was really cold out then the dragonflies would be forced to stay inside.

"_Only if he gets up before me,_" he finally answered. "_It's just his way of rubbing it in my face._"

Ruby cracked a smile at the response then decided to go on outside. Sparx watched her for any sort of reaction as the cool breeze blew through her wings. She didn't seem all that affected so Sparx decided to head on outside. As soon as the breeze stroked Sparx's back, the dragonfly retreated back into the safety of his cave.

"_What's wrong?_" Ruby asked, noticing Sparx's sudden reaction.

"_It's cold out there so I'm getting my scarf and hat. Do you need one?_" Sparx replied as he headed for his bed. "_I've got some to spare._"

Ruby shrugged, "_I guess you can get me a scarf and hat._"

_Meanwhile_

Mirelth sat at his rickety table, puzzling on when he was going to strike. Revenge sounded so gratifying at the moment, he couldn't describe the feelings he was having behind his wicked smile. But he couldn't get a certain memory out of his mind. It was stuck tight, not wanting to leave the fur dragon's thoughts.

"Why is that dragonfly still sitting around Artisan? I thought he would have been long gone by now." A second passed then he continued talking to himself. "Finally, I didn't rhyme this time." It didn't take but another second for him to show a frown. "This is all this holiday's fault, I'm going to take it down in one final assault. Without my partner there's only but one to get this thing as good as done. Without the gifts they'll be defenseless, then down with this holiday known as Christmas."

So Mirelth thought up of a plan. His plan was to put his flames to use to burn the gifts down to ashes, thus ruining the dragon's Christmas plans. Could he do it? Was it really that simple? From what he heard from last night, the dragons were going to have a replacement tree in their front yard. So if they were desperate to replace it, then it must have meant that they were going to put the presents under it when the toddlers went to sleep. And when that happened . . .

_Christmas Eve_

_5 P.M._

Sparx was out and about with a small green hat on along with a red scarf wrapped around his neck, just his size. Ruby wore the same, comfortable with the warmth it gave her.

Both of the dragonflies were at the frozen lake, watching a couple of toddlers skate on the ice to their hearts content. It looked like they were having a grand old time. Spyro was at the scene himself but just sat on the sidelines with Flame, talking about their plans for the next day. Or so Sparx thought. They were really talking about Mirelth.

"You think he's coming back?" Flame asked in skepticism, not taking his eyes off the toddlers skating in front of them.

"Call me paranoid but I think he is. You gotta think about it, he's as nasty as the big gnorc himself. I think he's planning to come back to ruin our Christmas."

"Interesting, sort of." Flame sighed then continued, "I guess you could be right."

"Of course I am," Spyro replied. "I'm the hero."

"Now your being self-centered. Your egoistic personality isn't going to help us at all."

"Such big words from a small head," Spyro grinned.

Flame shook his head as he looked his friend over, "I'll pretend I didn't hear that. So if you think he's coming back, then when?"

"Think about it, if you were the bad guy what would you go after to ruin Christmas and when?"

The red dragon sat in thought for a few seconds as a toddler skated on by. "I think the toddlers would be very disappointed if there were no presents. That is what they are looking forward to. Of course, if this is the last night before Christmas then I would probably come to take the presents away tonight while every is sleeping."

Spyro showed an admirable grin, "Seems like your genius is showing today."

"Right," Flame began. A cool breeze blew through the air making the two dragons uncomfortable until it stopped. "So what are we supposed to do about it?"

"I may have a plan," the purple dragon answered.

Flame sighed and sarcastically replied in a voiceless tone, "Oh great, he has a plan."

So Flame politely listened to Spyro's plan, just out of plain curiosity of what he could have came up with. But the more Spyro went on, the more impressed Flame became. Impressed to the point of surprisal.

When Spyro finished his lecture, Flame said back with incredulity, "Your serious? I can't believe you just came up with that? It's incredibly complex."

"Well I wouldn't really think of it as that complex but, okay whatever. So it's a good plan?"

"I was trying to be nice about it being complex," Flame groaned. "But I have to say that it is a descent plan and it may work. But-"

"But?" Spyro discourteously interrupted. "But what? My plan is foolproof."

"We'll need some help with this one," Flame finally indicated. He saw his friend's disordered look then continued, "We'll need some of the elders to help us out. We'll just tell Nestor about your plan then I'm pretty sure he'll understand."

"Fine," Spyro profoundly sighed. "But I'm telling him."

Then some buzzing noises came from behind the two dragons, which pretty much startled them enough to make their heart rate increase a tad. They turned around as soon as the buzzing was heard to find Sparx and Ruby had been hovering behind them the whole time they were talking.

"Sparx? Ruby? How long have you two been there?" Spyro dumbfoundedly asked.

Ruby answered for both of them to make Flame look with wonder. So Spyro turned to him as soon as she was finished and translated, "They've been here long enough to hear out on our plan. So they're in on this as well."

So the four of them made their way to Nestor's cave to tell the elder about their plan. The plan to hopefully save the toddlers Christmas and confront this unusual fur dragon on his behavior.

Meanwhile, that same fur dragon was on top of the snowy cliffs, overlooking the plains at a distance, studying everyone's movements. He spied mostly on the elders for he was worried about them the most. But as he did, he noticed a familiar purple dragon walking through the snow along with a red friend of his. He watched him for a moment to see him and his friend disappear inside of one of the many caverns. He was barely able to make out two colored dots that followed them, one was a ruby color while the other was golden.

"_Ruby_," Mirelth began in his thoughts. "_Sparx._"

Time passed as the sun slowly drifted down onto it's horizon as the crescent moon began to show in the sky. It's faint light was enough for him to see down into the plains as the elder's began to gather the children to go indoors. Another hour passed and the fur dragon had shifted his positions onto the other side of the cliffs, above the caverns where he was the night before. He sat in the snow, cold but curled up as he watched the new Christmas tree.

The green fur dragon thought he fell asleep at one time but it didn't seem much changed. He shook the snow off himself then sat back down in his spot as he noticed something. A tall orange elder was making his way toward the tree with a small gift wrapped box in his paws. He set the present down in the snow under the protective limbs of the Christmas tree then left to go retrieve another. Soon after, a couple more elders began to show up as they began setting down gifts for the toddlers under the tree. Mirelth impishly smiled at the sight, knowing that his revenge was right in his paws.


	6. A Christmas Miracle

Chapter Six

A Christmas Miracle

"Is he here? Did you see him anywhere?" Nestor whispered to Tomas, a tall yet slender orange scaled elder with a tan underbelly.

Tomas shook his head and whispered back, "Sorry Nestor, if he's out there then he may be on the cliff walls. Every time I walk out there I feel like I'm being watched. You sure we should have taken the ornaments off the tree earlier? I'm still confused on why we did that."

The green elder nodded, "If Spyro's prediction actually come true, it will surprise me. Better safe than sorry Tomas." The elder walked back into his cave and snagged another present for Tomas to carry. He brought it back out where Tomas took over. "Just don't intentionally look for Mirelth otherwise he'll know what we're up to."

Tomas nodded in understanding as he began his walk back toward the tree. As soon as he was out in the open, that feeling was creeping up onto him. "I hate being watched," Tomas quietly complained.

As the elders worked, Spyro, Flame, Sparx, and Ruby were in a nearby cave watching the whole thing. If Mirelth was watching them then he would get suspicious if smaller dragons were seen roaming about. So they just stayed inside.

"This is it," Spyro quietly said. "My plan better work for all the time it's costing me."

"Your just standing there," Flame replied in a low tone. "You can do whatever you want at the moment."

"But I'm in someone else's home. What am I supposed to do, go through this dragon's stuff?"

"If it'll get you to be quiet then yes, please do so."

Sparx and Ruby seemed to be just fine watching the purple dragon suffer the way he was. It was quite amusing to watch him pace back and forth as he kept on looking out unto the moonlit plains. The elders did have to place one-hundred and fifty presents out under the tree so it did take a little while, which seemed to drive the purple dragon mad.

As the last present was set down, the elders retreated back into their caves for the next phase of the plan. Tomas entered the cave than Spyro and his friends were in so he told them to make themselves at home for the time being. Of course, none of them could. They were too tense to sit back and relax.

_Meanwhile_

"_Looks like their finished and it's about time, because I am running out of rhymes. Now I'll just sit wait then I'll have these presents burned into slate._"

So the green dragon waited for a little while to give the elders some time to fall asleep. Mirelth smiled as he played with his paws, excited that he was about to destroy Christmas for the one's who made fun of him.

He waited for quite a while, an hour tops. Then out of his exhilaration he began his descent. Mirelth jumped off the ledge and glided through the air until he arrived at the Christmas tree. Still gliding, he circled around like a vulture until he finally landed in front of the tree, where he marveled at all the presents waiting to be burned.

"_So many presents I don't know where to start, I'm glad that I have no heart._"

Mirelth smiled then couldn't resist it any longer. He had to burn them. The fur dragon inhaled one deep breath before exhaling the flames through his nostrils. The flames covered the presents, setting them ablaze. Pretty soon, the fire began to spread without Mirelth's help.

"Burn!" Mirelth exclaimed, not even caring about the elders anymore. "I finally win this little game, because that fire is going to be hard to tame!"

"That's what you think Mirelth!"

Mirelth looked around himself, looking for the source. But he couldn't find it wherever he looked. "Show yourself!"

So the owner of the voice obeyed and walked out one of the caves. Mirelth immediately saw him to see it was a purple dragon that was smaller than him. Twice as small as him actually. Mirelth remembered him from the night before when he found Ruby.

"You? What are you doing here you little whelp? I should skin you until you cry for help."

Spyro showed no fear as he slowly approached the dragon, not even worried about the slow spreading fire behind him. "You should really learn to double check. It helps."

"What are you talking about?" Mirelth rudely asked.

Spyro was about to laugh as even more dragons began to show themselves from all the caves. Every one of them were elders and looked quite infuriated. Even a red dragon the size of Spyro came to the purple dragon's side along with two familiar dragonflies. Flame showed a grin as he noticed Mirelth's confusion but as soon as the fur dragon noticed his partner Ruby, his look of anger had changed.

"Ruby," Mirelth began.

But Ruby began buzzing in a rude sort of tone. "_Mirelth, why?_"

"Why?" Mirelth huffed. "Because of all those times they made fun of me, all those times they picked on me and gave me a horrible childhood."

"_So you thought revenge was the answer?_" Ruby asked.

"They deserve it!" Mirelth yelled, his voice seemed to have a quiet echo. "They all deserve it!"

"_The toddlers didn't!_" Ruby snapped.

"_She's right Mirelth_."

Mirelth looked beside Ruby to see a golden dragonfly, who also didn't seem too pleased with what he had done. "Sparx."

"_Mirelth,_" Sparx began. "_You know better than this. Did you forget that talk that we had all those years ago?_"

Ruby and Spyro snapped their attention onto Sparx wondering on what he was talking about.

A few moments passed and Mirelth looked down onto the snow below him. He shook his head as he remembered, "No . . . I didn't."

"What are you talking about Sparx?" Spyro asked, leaving everyone who couldn't understand dragonflies in the dark.

"Mirelth!"

Mirelth looked over to see a tall green dragon coming toward his direction. He somehow seemed familiar.

The green dragon continued, "I don't know if you remember me but my name is Nestor."

"Nestor?" Mirelth nearly stammered. He immediately began his rant, "This is all your fault Nestor! You caused all of this! It was your fault of my actions! Your the one that started the whole mess!"

"I know that," Nestor calmly replied, frustrated to be reminded of that. "I was the one who began making fun of you. I just wanted to say . . . that I was sorry for what I had done. I shouldn't have ever done such a thing to you just because you were different from the others."

Mirelth went into thought for a moment before continuing in a more easy tone, "What are you saying?"

"Mirelth," Nestor began. "I'm wanting to apologize for what I did. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me for what I have done?"

Everyone's head turned toward the fur dragon, wondering on how he would react. It was like the fire behind him didn't even exist. Flame began to wonder if he must have been getting hot for standing so close to it. But it seemed as time was at a stand-still as everyone awaited for the answer.

"I'm sorry as well," Tomas said as he walked up beside Nestor. "It was foolish of me to join in on the crowd that made fun of you. Your unique Mirelth and you should be proud of that. Can you forgive me as well?"

"Me too!" A dragon erupted from the back of the crowd. "I'm sorry Mirelth!"

"Same," someone else from above said. A gray dragon looked down from the platforming hoping for him to be forgiven as well.

Then everyone began following everyone else's example of asking for forgiveness, whether or not they made fun of Mirelth or not. Mirelth seemed astonished at what was happening, he definitely wasn't expecting for everyone to be asking for his forgiveness. Then he plainly looked over at the golden dragonfly who hovered beside his partner. So Sparx said unto him.

"_Mirelth, everyone is asking you for forgiveness. They are sorry for what they have done and we want to spend Christmas with you. You know you want to . . . just say it._"

Then something unexpected appeared on the fur dragon's cheek. It was a tear, slowly making it's way down his cheek. So he showed a smile and finally said, "Everyone . . . I want you to do something before I accept your apologies. I want you all to forgive me for the things that I have done. I destroyed your Christmas tree and your presents. Can you forgive me instead?"

Everyone looked at one another then nodded in unison as they all said, "You're forgiven Mirelth."

Mirelth could have laughed in joy before saying, "And I accept all of your apologies."

Every dragon that Mirelth could see had smiles on their faces. He turned to Nestor to hear him say, "So your going to start living with us?"

Mirelth took a moment to show a clear nod of approval, "If you don't mind."

"Not at all," Nestor replied, happy that everything was sorted out.

"And I'm sorry about the presents," Mirelth continued as the last remaining presents were slowly turning into ashes.

Nestor smiled, "Yeah, about that. Spyro, it was your idea so you tell him."

"Idea?" Mirelth repeated with a confused look. He turned to the purple dragon to see a big wide smile on his face.

"There are no presents," Spyro finally declared. "You just burned up a bunch of empty boxes. The real presents are still stored safely in Nestor's cave."

Mirelth seemed to be stunned for he was stuck in his spot, but managed, "W-wait. So I didn't ruin Christmas?"

"Mirelth," Nestor began to get his attention. Mirelth turned toward the taller green dragon, "Christmas isn't about gifts or the fancy decorating."

"It's not?"

Nestor shook his head.

"So what does it mean?" Mirelth asked.

"Since you have a family now, then the answer will come to you later on. But for now, I have a job for you."

"Job? How can I help?"

Nestor grinned, "Help us put the real Christmas presents under the tree."

Mirelth showed another smile as he said with a new enthusiasm, "You got it!"

And so, Christmas proceeded on as the new member of the family personally put the toddlers presents under the tree. Luckily, the elders put the presents away from the tree so if Mirelth did try to burn them then the tree wouldn't be harmed. So the tree still stood tall as the toddlers awoke the next morning. They were surprised to see a new member of their family so suddenly, but they welcomed him with warm hearts. The fur dragon couldn't remember the last time he was this happy.

Life proceeded on for Mirelth as he slowly settled in, happy that he accepted his old classmate's apologies. Sparx and Ruby seemed to like each other to the point where they started becoming more than friends. They began a relationship which made Spyro happy for his friend. Of course, the night that Sparx revealed that he had been around longer than Spyro thought, the purple dragon demanded an explanation of what happened.

But Mirelth couldn't have been more happy. It was what the dragons called a Christmas miracle. In one night, he became happy again without the fear of being made fun of. These were truly the happiest days of his life.


	7. Sparx's Influence

Chapter Seven

Sparx's Influence

_Thirty Years Ago?_

_Sunny Flight_

Mirelth knew this was it. It was the end for him. He failed the test and more than depressed.

He stood on the top of the island, alone, just thinking of what he should do to the dragon's who picked on him. Ruby went to try to persuade the elder's to tell her if Mirelth passed or not, but he knew she wouldn't have any luck.

"_Mirelth._"

Mirelth turned, expecting to see Ruby, but saw a golden dragonfly instead. "Sparx?"

Sparx flew over to him as fast as he could then stopped a few inches in front of his eyes, "_You did it Mirelth! I saw the elder's score-sheet and it said that they passed you!_"

"Yeah but what's the point. I'm just going to be made fun of for the rest of my life. This means nothing to me anymore."

You see, Sparx had already known Mirelth and was one of the unique beings that always tried to make him feel better about himself. He never agreed to any of the dragon's even his partner who seemed to be the one who made up Mirelth's nickname, the dragon mop.

"_Mirelth, you can't beat yourself up because of what others think about you._"

"How can't I? They're always in my face about the way I look!"

Sparx shook his head but knew he was telling the truth, "_Listen, you can't listen to them. You have so much to live for. Things will change in the future I know it will. You just have to ignore them. They'll soon understand that making fun of you is wrong and one day, they are all going to apologize to you._"

"Somehow, I doubt that Sparx. Your really the only friend I have other than Ruby."

"_And yet, both of you are alike. She is red. A dragonfly is not meant to be red. She's just like you Mirelth but she fights on through her life. There is going to be troubles along the road but don't let that stop you. Don't give up Mirelth._"

"So that's what you think I'm doing?" Mirelth snorted. "Giving up? Your not the one who's being made fun of all the time. Your not the one who's the center of attention all the time because of the way you look. How would you know so much about my own life?"

Sparx uttered a short sigh then continued, "_I know it's tough. But please, before you do anything reckless. Think about it before acting._"

Then the small golden dragonfly left without another word, leaving Mirelth alone to think on what to do.

**The End**

I hope you enjoyed this story. I had to work like the dickens to get this up before Christmas actually came. I just typed for about four straight hours so my fingers are killing me lol.

Have a merry Christmas everyone!


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